James.Womack@f14.n300.z1.fidonet.org (James Womack) (04/17/91)
Index Number: 15002
[This is from the Silent Talk Conference]
Who are the characters in this story? How many characters
were there? (Response: Three.) Right, there were three--the boy,
his father and his mother. What did the boy like to do? (Response:
Paint.) He was a farm boy. His father was a drunk. Why was the
father angry at the boy? Did you see the father speak to the boy in
an angry tone while gesturing toward the barn with one hand and
holding his liquor bottle in his other hand? (Response: It seems
the father wanted the boy to do some chores.) Apparently the boy
didn't like to work. He liked to paint. He had a clash with his
father. What did the boy's mother do? (Response: She supported the
boy.) Do you feel the boy is deaf or hearing? (Response: Deaf.)
Why? (Re sponse: When the father talked at the boy, the boy just
looked at him.) That's interesting that you said that. If the boy
had been a hearing child, maybe there would have been more
interaction between the boy and his father. Perhaps the boy would
have spoken up and said something, but he didn't. That is one clue.
Another clue was that the father used gestures with the boy. Did you
notice that? He pointed outside toward the barn. Though it appears
he is deaf we don't know for sure yet. We could continue like this
and develop each character. That gives you an idea for this part of
the story.
The part of the story that I showed you is called topic unit
number one. The next part would be topic unit number two and so on.
This story has five topic units. The first topic unit gives the
background for the story. It tells you about the boy's home, what the
boy's background is, that he lives on a farm, that it is wintertime
and so forth. The second topic unit is called "Looking for a Job".
The boy has to get a job after running away. The third topic unit is
about getting a jo b. The fourth topic unit is called "A Second
Life". The fifth topic unit is the ending.
O.K., now let's do some literary analysis. Did you notice
anything regarding the language I used? Did you see anything
interesting? Did you see anything beautiful or that impacted you?
(Response: The lantern light shining on the wall.) What did that sign
mean? (Response: Bright light.) Where did it come from? From the
moon? (Response: From a lantern.) Right, the light came from a
lantern. I don't use that kind of a sign for everyday conversation.
That's specific to storyte lling. It adds emphasis. It shows the
strength of the light. In the story I didn't use my eyes to look at
the wall. I used the light from the lantern. It was from the
perspective of the lantern. There is a different way of signing and
expressin g oneself when storytelling.
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